A risk assessment checklist is ten checks run on an assessment before it is signed, and an assessment that passes them passes the site manager and the auditor. Are the hazards this site's? Is every row complete? Is every control a measure, not an attitude? Is the residual risk stated? Does every action have an owner and a date? Are the significant findings written? Are the groups especially at risk named? Are the author and reviewer different people? Is the review date set? Is every control at a step in the method? The risk assessment template on this site prints assessments that pass, free.
Checks one to four: the rows
Site-specific hazards from the walk; hazard, who, how, likelihood, severity, control, residual, action all completed; controls named as measures; the residual risk on the scale. The HSE's guidance, cited below, gives risk assessment as five steps: identify hazards, assess the risks, control the risks, record your findings, review the controls, and says that if you employ 5 or more people you must record your significant findings.
Checks five to seven: the record
Actions with an owner and a date; the significant findings in a block; the groups especially at risk named. Regulation 3 of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, cited below, requires every employer to make a suitable and sufficient assessment of the risks to the health and safety of their employees, and regulation 3(6) requires an employer with five or more employees to record the significant findings and any group of employees especially at risk.
Checks eight and nine: the people and the date
Author and reviewer, two people; the review date set and the trigger events listed. An assessment reviewed by its author has not been checked. The trigger events, a change of task, site or people and any incident, are listed so the review happens when it should rather than when someone remembers.
Check ten: applied
Every control appears at a step in the method statement by hazard number. Run down the method with the assessment beside it. DailyLogDesk Pro keeps the pair; the tools print them. From the vendors' own pricing pages, cited below: SafetyCulture lists its Premium plan at $29 per seat per month billed monthly or $24 billed annually, with a free plan for small teams; Contractor Foreman lists its Basic plan at $49 per month for one user. DailyLogDesk Pro is $29 per month for the whole site team.
Questions people ask about risk assessment checklist
How long does the checklist take?
Five minutes per assessment; the tool prints most of the checks as fields that cannot be left blank.
Who should run it?
The reviewer, before signing.
Is the template free?
Yes, without an account.